UPCOMING EVENTS

Pokémon fans shouldn’t put their 3DS away yet. Nintendo announced today that Pokémon Crystal is coming to the handheld console’s digital store on January 26. It will cost $10.

Pokémon Crystal is the third version of the franchise’s second generation of games, which started with Gold and Silver. Those were released in 2000 for the Game Boy Color and have sold over 23 million copies. Crystal followed in 2001.

Crystal gave fans the choice of playing as a girl for the first time in the franchise’s history. It also added animated sprites and the Battle Tower, a new location focused on Pokémon duels.

Nintendo ported Gold and Silver to the 3DS in September. But for many fans, Crystal is the definitive version.

The 3DS is an aging system, but the 2011 portable isn’t dead yet. Nintendo released Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon for the device in November. But most of Nintendo’s efforts these days focus on the Switch, its portable/home console hybrid that has sold 10 million systems since launching in March. Nintendo has said that the next main Pokémon games will come out for the Switch.